In re C.C. CA3

BACKGROUND

Appellant C.C. was adjudged a ward of the court under Welfare and Institutions Code section 602 after the juvenile court sustained a petition alleging that C.C. attempted to criminally threaten G.O., a classmate with whom he repeatedly talked about carrying out a school shooting, and that he unlawfully accessed a school computer to search “school shooting simulator.” The court placed him on probation with various terms and conditions. On appeal, C.C. contends the juvenile court’s true finding that he committed an attempted criminal threat must be reversed because his speech and conduct was protected by the First Amendment to the federal Constitution and because insufficient evidence supports the finding. He also argues insufficient evidence supports the true finding that he committed unauthorized access to a computer. We agree as to the last point.

FACTS

G.O. testified at the contested jurisdictional hearing that in early 2018 she and C.C. attended the same high school. They were not friends, but over a two week period they sat next to each other during English class. During that two week period, C.C. talked about guns and school shootings with G.O. “every single day…